


For forever

by Glowcloudwasright



Category: Lumberjanes
Genre: F/F, Ice Cream, Loosely (heavily) based on the song "For forever" from dear evan hansen, Romantic Tension, Slightly aged up for driving purposes, What else do you want?, also, apple trees, depiction of falling and injury, rushing to the ER, some other characters mentioned - Freeform, tagging just in case, theyre like 16 here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24896704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowcloudwasright/pseuds/Glowcloudwasright
Summary: Two friends on a perfect day.Or, how it took April to break her arm for them to finally admit their feelings for eachother.
Relationships: April/Jo (Lumberjanes)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	For forever

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So like it says on the tags this fic is based on the song "For forever" form the musical Dear Evan Hansen, which isn't really a romantic song but I had this idea for a while, so if you want to give it a listen and get familiar with the lyrics, thats cool.

The breeze hit their faces as both girls drove through the old path, a winding open road unfolding before them. Just miles and miles of open field with tall green trees that framed the view and flowers in bloom enjoying the last days of spring before summer.

A very important summer in fact, as it was probably the last summer they would share together in its entirety, without the pressures and rushes of adult life that was starting to creep up on them. April took a deep breath from the passenger seat, letting the fresh air and the faint smell of apples from the nearby farmstead fill her senses, as the breeze played with her ginger hair. Jo normally hated it, complaining that the breeze couldn’t let her see the road properly as some of her dark locks got in her line of vision and that driving with her window down was a security hazard because of that, but right now she could make an exemption to let the fresh air hit her face and relax her for the first time in months.

It was the end of May or probably early June, none could say for certain, but they didn’t care. April was entranced by the scenery and made a vow the moment they were finished with tests to not gaze upon her calendar unless absolutely necessary. She would say it was because she wanted to enjoy as much time as possible without having in mind how much time they had left, but in reality, she dreaded the red circle inscribed in her calendar a few weeks ahead. The red circle that signified the day Jo, her best friend since forever, would be off to college far, far away from their childhood home, at least until the next school break.

On the contrary, April still had one year left of school before being off to her own adventure. This would be their last summer before senior year, that is, if Jo wasn’t a girl genius, title she wasn’t so fond of. But it was true; April knew that, just like everyone else. Jo was so smart she had managed to graduate a whole year ahead of her class, but only a selected few, like April, knew it would have been two years ahead if Jo hadn’t refused to be thrown head first into college as a 15/16 year old.

That alone had been a whole deal, standing up to her dads about how she just wanted one year, one more year to spend with her friends, to go to school and parties and stupid football games like everyone else before being surrounded by geniuses for the rest of her life; just one more year to be with April.

April blushed as she remembered Jo listing her as one of her reasons to stay home for one more year. At the moment she felt guilty, she never wanted to come between Jo and the bright future she had ahead of her, but after a long talk and many tears, Jo had helped her understand that all that could wait, she just wanted to be a happy normal girl for a little longer, and nothing made her feel more normal, or happier for that matter, than April.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Jo’s familiar voice from the driver’s seat snapped her out of her trance, her blush still in place form being caught spacing out.

April turned to face Jo, her eyes back on the road ahead but a small smile still in place. How she loved that dorky smile.

“All good, just… Thinking.” April said finally.

“About what?” Jo asked once more, letting her right hand fall to her lap and April had to resist the urge to grab it in her own and interlock their fingers. Because that’s what couples do, not best friends.

“About how many flavors of ice cream I’m going to order. I’m thinking fourteen should suffice.” April deflected the question, even though she was very much willing to order that many flavors.

Jo let out a laugh and turned for a second to look at April’s serious face, deciphering the dynamics of fitting fourteen scoops of ice cream in a single cone.

“I have no idea how you don’t have any cavities.” Jo said, turning her attention back to the road. She coughed slightly, and continued, with a more serious tone. “But, uhm… You know if somethings on your mind you can tell me.”

April turned towards her and almost thought she could see the faintest blush on her cheeks, but then again, it could be just the sun in her eyes.

“I know.” April answered earnestly, before turning her attention back to the road. She put on her heart shaped sunglasses she had bought at the gas station as a joke, just to lighten the mood. “But today is not for thinking, is for ice cream and adventure!” She finished cheerily.

Jo laughed once again at her friend’s determination and ridiculous red sunglasses, even if they did look good on April. But to be fair, Jo thought everything looked good on April.

Finally the small red roof of the ice cream shop came into view and as April cheered Jo had to restrain herself from speeding the few miles they had left before arriving. Safety first after all, but… ice cream.

After arriving and April having argued with the poor employee about how fourteen flavors were absolutely able to fit in the cookie cone, they settled on a nearby swing big enough for the two of them, made out of wood and covered in chipped white paint and weeds but with an amazing view of the trees in the distance. This was their favorite ice cream shop in the world, having found it years ago on a trip to the nearby farm for apple with their dads. They had the most amazing array of ice cream flavors, some you couldn’t even find anywhere else, and April had made it her mission to try them all, even if the parlor was so far away from their home she only got to taste them a couple times a year.

Jo had tagged along on the culinary endeavor, but quickly found the butterscotch marshmallow flavor to be her absolute favorite, so most times she settled for the one. 

They sat on the old swing and as Jo savored her ice cream she also saw April struggling to balance the tower of ice cream in her hands, even if most of it was inside a cup by the employee recommendations. She snickered at the focused face of the smaller girl and started to swing the seat ever so slightly, just to add a small layer of difficulty to the task. April wobbled and cursed under her breath as she tried to eat the ice cream as quickly as possible, causing Jo to laugh harder.

“Josephine, I swear, if you make me drop my ice cream…” April said, as serious as you could look licking multi colored ice cream desperately.

Jo laughed even harder at the use of her name instead of usual nickname. “Drama queen. What does that even taste like? All the flavors are melting together.”

“Tastes like glory! Wanna try?” April asked, having figured out the optimal ice cream eating position so she wouldn’t drop anything.

Jo simply shrugged and agreed, expecting to be handed the wobbling tower.

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to come over here, I can’t really move.” April concluded, eyeing the dessert.

Jo then leaned closer, one hand on April’s shoulder and her face incredibly close to hers, to get the ice cream in her mouth without staining her clothes. April could smell the essence of vanilla from Jo’s shampoo and feel the heat of her hand on her shoulder. As soon as April started to settle on the thought of how nice it was to have Jo so close to her she mentally slapped herself for thinking that, her cheeks turning bright red like the cherry on top of her ice cream.

“Ok, it actually tastes really good.” Jo commented, surprised. April tried to not look too disappointed as Jo’s hand left her shoulder.

April considered a success her blush had gone unnoticed and both girls proceeded to finish their ice creams in comfortable silence.

As per tradition, they walked down the meandering country road, the sun barely hitting their faces as it filtered through the leaves of the tall trees. April, ever the show off, climbed the painted fence and balanced on it for a few paces, before landing on her feet and vowing like a proud gymnast.

Jo scratched her chin as if she where a judge pondering the score.

“Eight out of ten. Your landing was shaky.” She said in her most preppy voice. 

“Damn. Tough crowd.” April responded, dusting off her jeans.

She jokingly shoved Jo slightly, causing the taller girl to return the taunt and turn the peaceful walk on an impromptu game of tag. Jo, in considerably worse shape than April, bent down slightly to try and catch her breath after being chased. She started to regret skipping gym all those years. 

“Ok, ok. I yield.” She managed to say, lifting her hands in sign of surrender.

April simply laughed and crossed her arms, still full of energy; probably because of all the sugar. Returning to their peaceful walk they talked and talked about everything and anything as per usual.

They had made trips similar to this one before, usually during the summer or when they really needed to unwind and have a good scoop of ice cream and an even better laugh. They talked about all the things they’d like to do in the future, about their families, their friends, the classes and crushes that stressed them out of their mind and about their fondest memories.

April remembered the last time they were on that same path, about nine months ago when Jo rambled about some girl on her chemistry class that she was crushing hard on; even if it only lasted about two weeks. April looked around the scenery the whole time, paying respectful attention to her best friend but wishing they could talk about something else, anything.

Of course they sometimes talked about that stuff, in the past she had talked Jo’s ear off about people she so happened to have a meaningless crush on that week, but this was around the time April realized her feeling s for Jo where maybe a little bit more than just friendly and platonic love between best pals.

By the time she had finally set her mind on telling her how she felt, the bomb dropped and a droopy eyed Jo told her about her early graduation and college plans one late night during a sleepover.

Well, she couldn’t say a thing now. Jo was leaving in less than a year and she definitely didn’t want her last memories together to be filled with awkward probably non reciprocal feelings. And even if Jo did feel the same way, a long distance relationship was way too complicated and consuming for Jo to worry while neck deep in assignments.

All their best friends from camp insisted that she couldn’t just drown those feelings out, but April was stubborn, to say the least. Besides, it was the noble thing to do. Right?

So April did exactly that. Pushed those feelings as deep down as possible and ignored the butterflies in her stomach every time she heard Jo’s laugh or every time she saw the sun reflecting off of her beautiful tanned skin and pretended she wasn’t a giant gay mess every time Jo complimented her or hugged her.

It was hard. But it was possible.

“Earth to April. You there?” April was snapped out of her thoughts once again, watching Jo move her hand in front of her eyes to catch her attention.

Damnit, she was spacing out again. Jo had probably been talking to her for the past minutes and April had retained zero information whatsoever. There was something about… sailing?

“Sorry, spaced out again. You were talking about, sailing or something?” April said, embarrassed about being too distracted thinking about her friend.

“Yeah, since I’m going to be living near the coast I should learn how to sail while I’m there.” Jo said, like it was the most casual thing ever.

“You know you’re going there to be an engineer, right? Not a pirate.” April smiled and raised an eyebrow at the idea.

Jo then shoved her slightly at the joke. “Hey, we didn’t all get every single nautical badge the Lumberjanes had to offer.” Both of them laughed at the memories of summer camp.

“Well, it would be cool if you could take me sailing along the shore sometime, captain.” April said, looking back at her from above her shoulder playfully.

Jo rushed in front of her and took April’s free hand in her own on a dramatic sweep, vowing theatrically like a noble lady and taking off an imaginary hat at April.

“Of course, Madame. It would be my honor.” April laughed, as a small blush crept to her cheeks. Jo had the same blush on her face and now April was sure it wasn’t just the sun, but then again, she pretended not to notice. “But-“ Jo added.

“Only if you let me read your book once it’s finished and ready to be published.” April rolled her eyes at the reminder of the book she had been working on since they were kids.

A fantasy novel, loosely based on their wacky adventures as kids with their best friends at camp, all completed with beautiful illustrations by yours truly. She had been working on it since forever and her writing had improved drastically from those days, but then again, it was a work in progress at the moment.

“If I ever finish it.” April said.

“Hey, of course you will.” Jo gave April’s hand a light squeeze and only at that moment both of them noticed they were still holding hands. The blush was back in place for both of them and hands retrieved back in their pockets. 

Despite the embarrassment, Jo swallowed hard and continued. “You’re really talented and your writing is amazing. You’ll finish it someday and it’s going to be awesome.” She finished, flashing a smile that sent shivers down April’s spine.

April thanked Jo for the encouragement she always gave her, avoiding to wonder what would be of her senior year without her around. As they locked eyes, Jo couldn’t help but think about how beautiful April’s big hazel eyes were, shining like distant stars of her own, putting even the summer sun to shame 

They continued to walk in silence, as the wind blew stronger.

“Remember when we took our bikes out here?” April said, running her hand along the white wooden fence.

“When my dad thought he could do a wheelie and end up crashing against that tree?” Jo asked, remembering the day fondly.

“And all those apples fell off the tree like in a cartoon.” April said, both their laughs growing stronger.

“And then we ate those on our way back.” Both of them said in unison. Jo scratched the back of her neck awkwardly and April looked back at the ground, but those big smiles were still in place.

The conversation shifted back and forth around topics, talking about biking the Appalachian Trail, to what Jo gave a lengthy fun fact about Bengal tigers and April continued with the latest adorable shenanigan of her tabby cat back home. 

The pair stopped abruptly, looking around at all the trees that had suddenly become taller and numerous. The sun started to hang low between them, the yellow rays fading more to an orange tone. For how long had they been walking exactly?

“Whoa I don’t think we’ve ever been this deep into the parcel.” Jo said, looking around and suddenly feeling really small amongst these giants. She tried to ignore how it felt exactly like the time she had visited the college campus a few months ago with her dads to sort some enrollment things out.

“Yeah, it’s kinda creepy.” April said, looking around. “But cool.” She concluded, looking up at the treetops, her hands on her hips.

She turned around to see Jo, transfixed on the sight with a look of, fear?

Yes, it was definitely fear. April knew that look.

“Hey, you okay?” April asked, taking a step towards her.

Jo snapped back from her trance, looking down at her shoes. “Yeah just… thinking.”

April now stepped about a foot in front of her, arms crossed and her right eyebrow lifted, not willing to let this go with a poor excuse.

Jo was surprised to lift her head and see the smaller girl so close to her face, but quickly reacted with a response.

“So only you can get away with that excuse?” Jo asked, any hostility lost with her sweet tone and sweeter smile.

“Exactly.” April answered, mimicking her tone.

Jo looked down once again, rubbing her arm. “I’m just scared I think, about going away, on my own…” April’s expression softened. “What if I’m not ready? It all just sounds like too much.”

When it seemed like Jo couldn’t bring herself to say anything else, April spoke up.

“Hey, look at me.” Now it was April’s turn to reach for Jo’s hand and give it a squeeze against her better judgement, but hey, her friend needed comfort. “You’re the most amazing, talented and smart girl ever, okay? You’re going to do great.”

Jo lifted her gaze to meet April’s, a small smile on her face once again. Any trace of doubt shoved aside by the determination and honesty in April eyes, the look that made Jo’s stomach twist to knots with nerves but at the same time made her feel like she could do anything. It was a strange feeling, but Jo had sort of gotten used to it through the years, if there was such thing as getting used to that.

They were already so close, but something made Jo take another step forward and interlock their fingers.

“You think so?” Her voice was barely a whisper, tickling April’s nose slightly.

“I know so.” April answered, suddenly not minding the small gap that separated them and choosing to focus on the feeling of their fingers intertwined, on the warmth that radiated off of Jo and how she was so close she could feel it, desperately wanting to close the gap even more and hug her, maybe even kiss her. 

All at once Jo felt very aware of how close they were, of how she could smell April’s sweet and floral perfume and how lost she had gotten looking at the specs of gold in April’s eyes and then at her soft lips.

Then came the panic.

Best friends don’t look at each other’s lips and wonder if they’re as soft as they look and how great it would be to kiss them. No matter how uncontrollable her crush on April had gotten in the past weeks, Jo put their friendship first and above any stupid feelings she might have. 

But then again, April was so close to her and the warmth that radiated from her was inebriating and inviting, all Jo wanted to do was hug her tightly and kiss her.

Then came even more panic.

She had to do something, say something, anything. She couldn’t just stay like that. The tension was not only palpable, but you could probably cut it with a butter knife if you tried. 

“Thanks.” Was all Jo managed to say, a little louder than intended. _“THANKS?” What the hell Jo._

Not the smoothest move on her part.

April’s expression said it all, a mixture of confusion and… disappointment? Jo thought there was some disappointment there.

“You’re welcome?” April answered, more of a question than anything.

The gap between the two grew as both girls took a step back to collect themselves. Jo’s face grew even redder with different feelings of embarrassment.

Okay, she had messed up and there was definitely no going back to their previous whispered conversation, but maybe she could change the subject and both of them would pretend she hadn’t just royally screw up their moment.

Could she even call it a moment?

“Jo, I-“ April started to say, her voice weak and nervous.

“Race you to that tree!” Jo accidentally cut her off, full on screaming yet another incoherence she mentally slapped herself for.

“What?” April asked, fairly confused.

 _Well, might as well go along with this._ Jo thought.

“I-I race you to that giant tree, whoever climbs it first wins!”

April stood there dumbfounded for a solid second, trying to process everything that had happened. Jo, on her part, wasn’t about to allow her to look any more into her string of ridiculous actions, so she grabbed her hand to pull April along with her on a sprint.

“C’mon!” Jo said, letting go of her hand once they were running. “Or are you scared I’m going to win?”

Those words worked like magic on April every time, she just couldn’t help her competitive nature, and so the smaller girl sprinted after Jo with a determined look on her face.

Jo had had an unfair advantage and an extra boost of adrenaline from her nerves, so she was ahead of April by a decent distance, but she quickly caught up to the dark haired girl. Curse her bizarre athleticism. Jo tried to jump to the first branch, pulling her weight up to try and start climbing. Soon, April was beside her, climbing up in one swift move that would put a trapeze artist to shame.

“You were saying?” April asked, quickly getting ahead and starting to climb up quicker.

“No fair! You’re like crazy strong.” Jo called, trying to climb as fast as the other girl. At least her height was an advantage.

“Ripley would be disappointed in you, Jo.” April teased, remembering their younger friend that could have probably climbed this tree in half the time.

Jo gasped, fake offended but the smile on her face very telling of how much fun she was having. April turned back at the sound of the marvelous laugh that made her heart flutter and couldn’t help but see how the last rays of sun were starting to shine around them, reflecting on Jo’s brown eyes.

They were so high up by now that the breeze that had settled long ago played with her hair once more, the air cool and fresh around them. April was taken aback by it all, the warm of the sun on her face, the laugh of her best friend nearing her, the sound of the leaves rustling around her. Then she remembered their little exchange from back there, or so she thought. The memory, although fresh, was hazy; like it had been some kind of dream.

_Crack._

The cracking noise shook April back to reality, it sounded too close to be a stray branch from somewhere else.

**_Crack._ **

It sounded again, louder, like a big branch was about to break. But it couldn’t be her branch right?

**_SNAP_ **

“April!”

And that was the last thing April heard before her world went dark and she felt numb, a loud snapping noise and Jo’s voice calling for her like she had never heard it before, sharp, desperate and filled with fear.

April opened her eyes slightly, trying to focus on anything around her, but all she could see were different green and yellow spots. Then a bright dark orange light.

She couldn’t feel a thing until suddenly she felt everything. She was now very aware of the excruciating pain she was feeling, that pierced through her whole body, but specially her right arm. She tried to move it, only to be reminded of the pain ten times worse.

 _Ok, mental note, don’t move that arm_. She moved her left arm this time, moving her hand atop her eyes as if to shade them from the light.

_The sun, that’s the sun._

_Those are leaves._

_I fell down._

_Oh fuck._

Now April remembered.

She heard the familiar sound of leaves rustling and grass being stepped on, frantic steps nearing her and then she turned her head to the side to see a pair of familiar leather boots.

_That’s Jo._

“April! Oh my God, are you okay?!” She sounded desperate and frightened like she had never heard her, at least not since they were kids and their worst fears were killer chimps and giant bugs from nightmares.

But this was somehow worse, a colder and sharper type of fear, like the pain on her arm.

Jo tried to move April’s head atop her lap to inspect any injuries, handling her carefully like a porcelain doll.

“Jo…?” April managed to muster at the sight of the familiar face in front of hers, tears starting to form in the corner of her dark brown eyes.

“Oh, thank God, April.” Jo breathed as she noticed that her friend was at least conscious and showing no signs of concussions.

All she wanted to do was hug her tightly and never let her go, to nurse any injuries back to health in a matter of seconds so April’s characteristic smile could be in place once more, but it wasn’t that easy.

“Jo, I… I think I fell down.” April managed to say groggily, sitting up slightly, her back atop Jo’s knees.

Jo couldn’t help the breathy chuckle that left her lips, not humorous at all but helping her to breathe normally once more.

“You did, the branch snapped. It-it happened so fast and you fell down like 10 meters. I-“ Jo was starting to ramble, carefully checking April for any other injuries.

“AH!” The deafening scream of pain April let out when she touched her right arm was enough for Jo to lose all color in her face.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I think you broke your arm.” Jo apologized, eyeing the several scratches and bruises that were starting to form.

“It’s okay. I have another one.” April answered, still light headed from the fall, but as always managing to smile a small, although pained smile.

Jo mostly ignored the joke and began to help April on her feet. Thank God her legs were fine by some miracle; her lanky arms would have never been able to carry April back to the car.

They walked back the dirt road, April grabbing her broken limb with her good arm as Jo helped her stand up straight, despite April insisting that she was fine enough to walk by herself, all the while wobbling and pale.

“We’re close. I’ll get the car and we’ll be off to the nearest hospital in no time, okay?” Jo said, reassuring April and herself.

“Do you think the guy will give me a scoop for the road if he sees the broken arm?” April said, half joking and trying to sooth Jo’s nerves.

Then again she ignored the poorly timed joke and deepened her frown, letting April sit down in a nearby bench so she could get the car.

The familiar jeep Jo’s dads had gifted her for her sixteenth birthday came into view and April took a deep breath to stand up and walk towards it. Quickly Jo rushed to her help.

“I told you to wait for me, April.” She said, worried out of her mind for the smaller girl.

“Jo, it’s just a few steps.” April insisted, as Jo opened the door and helped her climb up the passenger’s seat.

April rolled her eyes slightly when Jo secured her seatbelt for her, with the uttermost carefulness as to not squeeze the injured arm.

The drive back would have mostly been quiet, if Jo hadn’t been asking April every half a minute how she was feeling, how much her arm hurt, if she was feeling light headed or sleepy and pleading her not to fall sleep in case of a concussion.

“Jo, calm down! It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.” April assured her. She wanted to squeeze her hand again, at least to calm her down.

“Okay but let me know if you start to feel tired or sleepy, please.” Jo requested once again.

“I mean, I could go for a nap right now.” April said, suddenly very aware of how much her whole body ached, not just her arm.

Jo’s grip on the steering wheel tightened and small tears where back on the corner of her eyes.

“Can you please be serious for 10 minutes?! You just fell down at least 3 stories and broke your arm, can’t you ever take anything seriously?!” Jo snapped at her.

April’s eyes widened at this, Jo never snapped at her like that.

“Woah, I’m the one injured here. Don’t yell at me.” April answered back, lifting the few millimeters her incapacitated arm allowed as if to draw attention back to the injury. 

Jo took a deep breath and focused back on the road. The hospital was nearing on their line of vision, finally.

“I know, I’m sorry.” Jo said, sounding sincere but still troubled. April decided not to push her to talk this time.

The process was mostly fast and after filling some forms, a nurse took April into the ER to do some tests and most probably put her arm on a cast. Jo plopped down on the cold chairs from the waiting room, running a hand through her tired and sweaty face, tears rolling down her cheeks finally. Tears she had been containing from the moment she heard the bone chilling scream April let out before falling down the tree, followed by a loud thud that made Jo shiver just remembering it.

She took a deep breath to compose herself, pulling her phone from her pocket and preparing herself to call Uncle Alan and her dads and inform them of what had happened.

Minutes that felt like hours passed by, as Jo fidgeted uncomfortably on her chair waiting for the nurse to be back with April.

“Hey, kid. Here.” The nurse at the front desk of the ER called to her, setting a Styrofoam cup atop the desk for Jo.

It was tea, still hot from the nearby cafeteria. Jo thankfully accepted the beverage, the heat replacing the chilling sensation from earlier fear and the hospital’s chilling AC as she took the first sip.

“Your girlfriend will be okay. Rose says she’s a trooper, she’s back there chatting the other nurses up.” The sweet smile the nurse shoot Jo was contagious enough for her to smile back, mostly ignoring the word “girlfriend” in the sentence.

By the time Jo was done with her tea a tall, bulky looking nurse with short ginger hair called for her. She kind of reminded her of Rosie, their counselor from Lumberjanes summer camp. She never bothered learning the actual name of the camp.

She was lead back to where April was, sitting in a hospital bed, tucked under a blanket up to her waist and playing cards with another patient at the bed over and one of the nurses.

“Albert, I’m like 90% sure you’re cheating.” April muttered, as the older man next to her and the nurse chuckled at the accusation.

Albert, as Jo guessed the older man was called, put down his hand, flashing a perfect full house. April slammed her own hand down and so did the nurse, as the old man chuckled once again.

“Better look next time, girls!” The nurse stood up and went away with Albert, muttering something about being a bad idea to play poker against an ex world champion.

They both waved April goodbye and the girl returned the gesture with her usual big smile.

“I want a do over!” She called, Albert chuckling once more from the end of the hall.

Jo couldn’t help but smile fondly at the whole thing. April was able to make friends no matter where she went, but then again, who could resist those big doe eyes.

“You look like you’re having fun.” Jo finally spoke up, entering the room.

“Jo! There you are.” April said happily.

“How are you feeling?” Jo spoke softly, taking a seat next to April on the bed.

“Way better now that you’re here.” Jo tried to contain the blush in her face at the remark. ”You were right; I broke my arm back there. But they let me choose the color for my cast.” April lifted up the injured arm to showcase the bright pink cast around it.

“Don’t they only do that for kids?” Jo asked, smiling at the cast that so adequately matched April’s bandana that always adorned her hair.

“I might have insisted a little.” April admitted.

Jo looked down at her hands, softening her expression.

“Listen April, I’m… I’m really sorry about yelling at you earlier. That was wrong.” April reached out to hold Jo’s head, causing her to look up.

“Jo, it’s okay. You were right; I shouldn’t have joked about that. I know you were really worried.” Now April’s expression softened.

“That’s not it. I…” Jo trailed off, looking down at their intertwined hands. “I feel so guilty, If I hadn’t offer that stupid race you wouldn’t have fallen down the three, It was childish and careless and-“

“And not your fault.” April cut her off, squeezing her hand lightly. “It wasn’t your fault; we couldn’t have possibly known the branch was going to break. Besides the race was fun. We hadn’t done that in a long time.” April smiled sweetly at her. 

“Can we never do that again?” Jo asked, lifting her shoulders slightly with a sheepish smile.

April left out a laugh. “That’s fair. I don’t think I can climb any threes for the time being anyway.” April pointed back to her pink cast.

“Besides,” April spoke up again. “I feel guilty too. This was supposed to be the perfect start to out last summer together… I wanted it to be fun and memorable, not terrifying and spending the night at the hospital…” April looked sad, so now it was Jo’s turn to comfort her.

But instead of going for the same hand squeeze, Jo wrapped her arms around April, careful not to press to hard as to bring back the pain from the bruises. April nuzzled to the crook of Jo’s neck and she could feel small tears running down.

“The day was amazing as it was, April.” Jo spoke softly against April’s soft ginger hair as she ran her hand through it. “It was a very scary accident, but we got to hang out together and have some ice cream and just… be, you know? Thank you for that.”

April sniffed and dried her tears, separating slightly to face Jo.

“Besides, this won’t be our last summer together.” Jo spoke up again, drying a stray tear that ran along April’s cheek with her thumb.

“You sound very sure.” April said softly, and Jo knew exactly what she meant.

“I am.” Jo answered; her voice barely above a whisper.

They locked eyes for the second time that day, and this time there was no sunset reflecting off their pupils or wind blowing pulling them closer together, but somehow Jo still thought April looked beautiful, despite the scratches on her face and the very apparent weariness in her eyes.

April couldn’t help but bring her unharmed hand to run her fingers through Jo’s hair on the back of her head, her usual bob all messy from the day they had, but beautiful all the same, framing Jo’s face perfectly.

Her eyes darted down to Jo’s lips and as she looked up again she was surprised to have caught Jo doing the same thing, the blush on their faces deepening by the second. The pair shared a breathy laugh, having read each other’s mind at that moment.

A sudden wave of peace washed over them, feeling like they weren’t at the cold sterilized ER anymore, but back in the middle of the open field, the last two people around in kilometers.

They weren’t sure about who closed her eyes first or who shifted her head first or who closed the gap between their lips first, but they weren’t about to pull away to find out. They were kissing; a sweet small kiss that let waves and waves of feelings from months or even years before wash over them and feeling like a weigh had been lifted from their shoulders finally.

They were right. This wouldn’t be their last summer together, but the first of many, many more.


End file.
